NEW DELHI: The weakening rupee has made Indian rice more competitive globally and exporters feel that such a trend would help them expand markets.

“The exports have been good so far. The currency depreciation has made Indian rice more competitive, ” said Mr Vijay Setia, President of All India Rice Exporters Association. However, the weak currency is not a good sign in the long run.

Since the beginning of the current financial year, the rupee has depreciated 5.5 per cent against the dollar.

India, a leading exporter of rice before a slew of domestic curbs came in the way, returned with a bang in the global markets in 2011-12, toppling traditional leaders like Vietnam and Thailand to emerge as the biggest exporter.However, sustaining this performance might be difficult. For, exporters have started raising prices. Last year, they had huge stocks because of a ban imposed on non-basmati rice since 2007. Even then, India will continue to be a big player in global rice markets, albeit not as big as it was in 2011-12, say those in the trade.

Jammu, Apr 26 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir is making all efforts to facilitate exports of basmati rice, state Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir said today. There is a growing awareness and demand for basmati in the national and international market and the government is making all out efforts to increase its profitability as a cash crop by facilitating its exports, he said. He said that the cultivation of traditional basmati rice needs to be promoted as it is highly aromatic and has great export potential.

Chinese authorities have finally given the green light for Indian exports of basmati rice following a long and tortuous six-year process that has been seen as underscoring the difficulties of navigating the complex bureaucratic hurdles that bar entry into the China market.

China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) announced last week it would allow imports of basmati rice from India. Negotiations were on since at least 2006, when President Hu Jintao visited India. It took another visit from Mr.

PUDUCHERRY: After a lapse of around eight months, the UT government will resume distribution of single boiled rice (SBR) through Public Distribution System from next week,said Chief minister N Rangasamy while inspecting the construction of houses under JNNURM at Lambert Saravanan Nagar on Thursday.

BANGALORE: To highlight rich rice diversity in the country and to create awareness about nutritious value of different varieties of rice, city-based NGO, Sahaja Samrudha, NABARD, Save Our Rice Campaign and Pristine Organics will organise a three-day ‘Desi Rice Mela’ in the city from April 6.

If all goes well, rice husk and solar power — two very unlikely entities — will together provide rural India with a twin solution to its problems of power shortage and lack of storage for agriculture produce. What's more, the evolving system promises zero emission of pollutants as well.

The government's Solar Energy Centre has managed to make use of rice husk and solar power, which are both being wasted at present, to come up with a technological marvel that would prevent wastage of food grains in rural India.

Guwahati, Mar 25 (PTI) Assam government has for the first time decided to procure rice directly from farmers through the Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board. The procurement would begin from October-November this year, an official release said.

The decision to procure rice directly from farmers was taken at a high level meeting attended by Agriculture Minister Nilomani Sen Deka. The government has also decided to send officers' teams to other states to explore possibilities for marketing rice outside Assam.

Pulihora is one of those festive foods that are brewed in the kitchen on any auspicious occasion. Ugadi being the new year day for Karnataka and Andhra is just another special reason to prepare this Indian rice recipe. As the festival is South Indian, the recipe too is likewise. Pulihora can be described in simple terms as tamarind rice. This Indian rice recipe is primarily spiced up with tamarind but that is not all.

Guwahati: Assam has made a significant turnaround in attaining self-sufficiency in rice in the last one decade or more, prompting the Assam Agricultural University (AAU) to set for itself a target of helping the state achieve a record output of 100 lakh metric tonnes of rice per annum in less than a decade.

Rice procurement in the Kharif marketing season 2011-12 (October-September) has crossed the mark of 250 lakh tonne. According to statistics 2,50,24,200 tonne rice has been procured by the various government agencies by February 22, 2012.

Punjab procured 77,31,325 tonne followed by Chhatisgarh 40,54,679 Andhra Pradesh 36,87,335 and Haryana 19,73,875 tonne of rice. This procurement is 1,75,517 tonne more than the corresponding day of last marketing season.

VietNamNet Bridge – On the threshold of the second Vietnam Rice Festival which took place in November 2011, the National Office for Intellectual Property (NOIP) granted the certificate to the “Soc Trang fragrance rice” trademark. The builder of the trademark is Ho Quang Cua, an engineer, Deputy Director of the Soc Trang provincial Department for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Rice procurement in the Kharif Marketing Season 2011-12 (October-September) has crossed the mark of more than 196 lakh tonne. According to statistics 196,50,122 tonne rice has been procured by the various government agencies by January 19, 2012.